Bon Voyage

Dear Readers,

I am going on a little vacation this Wednesday. I’m off to places in Northern Europe that end in –land, except for Ireland and Finland. Finland, Finland, Finland. Apologies for that Monty Python moment.

I wish I had something really interesting to tell you before I go, but I really don’t. My past couple of weeks have consisted of shopping for clothes to wear on this vacation. I’ve bought some very fancy & pretty formal wear, a couple new jackets, and a really awesome pair of shoes that I don’t need at all. I’ve had vacation on the brain and not much else. A few things have made my radar outside of vacation though: The events in the Middle East – Lebanon/Israel, kidnapped journalists, mid-air terrorist threats, Iran - Korea and their scary nuke stuff, the downgrading of Pluto to a non-planet (what’s up with that?), this new ridiculous Survivor pitting four “races” against each other, Project Runway and it’s increasingly inane challenges, idiotic things said by Ray Nagin, that creepy beyond creepy John Mark Karr and the resurfacing of JonBenet, the CRJ crash in Lexington. I did skip the Emmys last night out of principal. Nope. I watched Entourage at 7 (the East coast showing) and then Pirates of the Caribbean which was on ABC. Johnny Depp is gorgeous. That can never be said too often.

I did feed my mind yesterday and read two books in addition to the paper. I read the new Lynne Cox (Swimming to Antarctica) book called Grayson. It’s about one of her work out swims when she was 17. She was swimming off of Seal Beach in California in the pre-dawn hours when she felt a large presence in the water with her. It turned out to be a baby gray whale that had lost its mom. It’s a slim book and only took me about an hour to read, but it’s good. Her connection with this whale is something she drew from in her future world-record swims and has stuck with her some 30 years later. By the way, if you haven’t read Swimming to Antarctica, I highly recommend it. It’s astounding. I’ll send you a copy if you want it. Lynne is also a very pleasant, well-spoken, grounded and normal person who just happens to have accomplished superhuman feats. I think her gentle personality and mental toughness come through in Grayson even more than in Swimming.

I also read a new memoir Harcourt is publishing this fall called A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas. I read it because my mom wants to read it and I had it at home since I haven’t given it to her yet. It’s very sad. It’s very beautiful. None of the dogs die (thank goodness!) but it’s still sad. It’s getting great reviews and even has a fantastic blurb from Stephen King on the cover, “The best memoir I have ever read. This book is a punch to the heart. Read it.” So what’s it about that has Stephen King raving? Well, dogs and the comfort and companionship they can provide in times of great pain and challenge. But it’s mainly about the aftermath of a horrible car vs. pedestrian accident her husband is involved in while walking their beagle, Harry. It is self-centered, as most memoirs are, since it’s about her recovery after the accident, but not in a victim way. Her husband is hit by a car and suffers a traumatic brain injury. He survives but it permanently changed. The accident also permanently changes the author. The memoir is like many memoirs in that it’s about hardship, love, tragedy, a difficult past, and a hopeful future. How it’s different is that the author doesn’t delve into lots of self-psychoanalyzing and paranoia. She doesn’t dredge up all the sordid and scarring events of her past. A couple maybe not so bright points in her history are briefly alluded to (alcoholism, strained relationships with children), but that’s not the focus and it’s not to blame for the current reality she finds herself in. It’s not a victim memoir. It’s a survivor memoir that deals honestly with thoughts & emotions she had after the accident (guilt, relief, selfishness, etc.). Very readable and touching – something that is difficult to accomplish in as few words as she uses.

So. I didn’t intend for this post to be so long. I didn’t think I had anything to say. Hope all of you have a really swell Labor Day weekend and watch lots of the US Open. Go Agassi! Go Nadal! So bummed I’m missing it, but I’ll be off doing other things just as interesting. Talk to all of you later.

Planned books for the flight and cruise:
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
The Places In Between

What Is with People?

MARION, Ind. (AP) — Ten to 15 people wearing masks left six 40-gallon trash bags full of taco sauce packets at a Taco Bell restaurant in what police described as a prank.

A note attached to the bags said the group had been accumulating them for the past three years, storing them in the trunk of a car, authorities said.

Police have suspended their investigation into the Tuesday night prank in the city about 50 miles northeast of Indianapolis without any arrests, said Marion Deputy Police Chief Cliff Sessoms.

"From everything we've got here, there doesn't appear that there has been any crime committed," he said. "It looks more like a prank than it does anything else, but not a very funny one because you've got that number of people coming in there with their faces covered up."

A spokesman for Taco Bell said he's never heard of people returning so many unused packets of sauce.

"I've heard a lot of people accumulate sauce packets in their glove compartments. We know people keep things and it's a pretty common phenomenon, but to have that many, I've never heard of that," said spokesman Rob Poetsch.

He said the packets would not be used, for safety reasons.

Travel Plans

I am finally going to be taking a vacation this year. On August 30, I'm flying to London to embark on a 14 day cruise. The cruise leaves from Dover on the 31, and goes to two ports in Scotland, one in Iceland, one in Greenland, and ends in NYC on September 14. Yes, it's a Crystal Cruises cruise. (click that link to see our route) This time we'll be on the Symphony, which I haven't been on yet. Mom and Dad are going, too.

So all this UK-US flight terror stuff is putting a little damper on my excitement about this trip. I have a nonstop flight from LAX to Heathrow on Virgin Atlantic. I'm very glad that this plot was thwarted, but I want them to catch the rest of this group. Soon.

Other than keeping up with current events - stupid terrorists & the Israel-Lebanon war - I don't have much going on. I think I'll take myself to see the movie Little Miss Sunshine today for some entertainment and levity. I'm going to two Giants-Padres games next week, which will also be great. I love going to PetCo park. It's a super nice ballpark and my company has fantastic season tickets. With the two games next week, I will have used the company tickets seven times.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Currently reading: The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig

On deck to read: The Places in Between by Rory Stewart